Knitting needle



Filed Feb. 4, 1965 F/G/ F/GTZ m INVENTOR. JUL /us 1?. aux

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,364,702 KNITTING NEEDLE Julius R. Bux,Melrose, Pa, assignor to J. R. Bux & Son, Philadelphia, Pa., 2copartnership Filed Feb. 4, 1965, Ser. No. 430,397 3 Claims. (Cl. 66119)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A spring beard knitting needle of a singlepiece of wire in which the beard is connected to the shank by aresilient coil.

This invention relates to knitting needles for use in knitting machinesand more particularly to bearded knitting needles.

Bearded knitting needles are in common use on circular and fiat bedknitting machines. Serious difiiculties have been encountered because byreason of repeated stressing of the needles, and particularly the springbearded needles, at the arched turn, these needles crystallize andbreak. This breaking results in loss of machine time during replacement,the labor cost for replacement as well as added cost for the needlesthemselves.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provideimprovements in knitting needles of the bearded type which will greatlyincrease the useful life of the needle.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide improvementsin knitting needles of the bearded type in which enhanced resiliency isprovided in the needle without interfering with the operation of theneedle.

Other objects and advantageous features of the invention will beapparent from the description and claims.

The nature and characteristic features of the invention will be morereadily understood from the following description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings forming part thereof, in which;

FIGURE 1 is a perspective View greatly enlarged, of a knitting needle inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view, enlarged, of the operating end of theknitting needle shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional View, further enlarged, takenapproximately on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a top plan view, enlarged, of the portion of the knittingneedle shown in FIG. 2.

It should, of course, be understood that the description and drawingsherein are illustrative merely, and that various modifications andchanges can be made in the "ice structure disclosed without departingfrom the spirit of the invention.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, a preferred embodimentof the invention as applied to a spring bearded needle 10 is shown. Theknitting needle 10 is preferably made of spring steel wire and has ashank 11, preferably round in cross section. The shank 11 at one end hasan angularly disposed portion 12 for anchoring the needle 10 in theknitting machine (not shown).

The needle 16 has a beard 15 with an inturned point 16 for reception ina groove 17 in the shank 11. The beard 15 at the portion remote from thepoint 16 is joined to an extension 18 of the shank 11 of reduced crosssection by a single spiral resilient turn 19. The diameter of the turn19 is such as to space the end of the heard 15 from which turn 19extends at the desired distance from shank 11 to provide an eye for theaccommodation and retention of the yarn when the point 16 is engaged inthe groove 17. Thus the coil or turn 19 is of substantially the samewidth as the needle eye. The turn 19 provides a resilient hingedconnection which effects a distribution of the stress during flexing andavoids the concentration of the flexing at the tip as in prior needles.

I claim:

1. A knitting needle of the spring bearded type made from a single pieceof spring wire having a shank with a groove, a beard having an end forengagement in the groove, and a resilient coil connecting said shank andsaid beard remote from said end and providing distribution of thestresses upon movement of said heard.

2. A knitting needle as defined in claim 1 in which said coil is asingle turn.

3. A knitting needle as defined in claim 1 in which said coil is asingle turn of substantially the same width as the needle eye.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 861,234 7/1907 Ferguson 24-1591,297,428 3/ 1919 Wilcomb 66-119 2,052,469 8/1936 Hoskins 24-2612,661,228 12/1953 Wilson 24261 X FOREIGN PATENTS 52,053 5/ 1890 Germany.231,479 6/ 1944 Switzerland.

N. C. REYNOLDS, Primary Examiner.

